Night Show Read Online Free PDF

brilliant?’
    ‘Only my mother.’
    ‘Well, you are.’
    Jack smiled. ‘The guy probably wasn’t following us, anyway.’
    ‘Probably not,’ Dani said. ‘After all, this isn’t one of Roger’s splatter movies. This is real life. Hearses don’t tail you in real life.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘Right.’
    She wanted to believe it, but couldn’t. She doubted if Jack really believed it, either. She wasn’t terribly surprised when, at the crest of the hill where Mulholland intersected Laurel Canyon, they came upon a black motionless shape on the road’s shoulder.
    The hearse.
    It had waited for them.
    It swung onto the road behind them.
    Dani wasn’t terribly surprised, but she wanted badly to scream.

4
     
    S HE SWUNG onto Dona Lola. The hearse followed. ‘Now what?’
    ‘Stop the car,’ Jack said.
    ‘Here?’ The street was dark and deserted. A few cars were parked along the curbs, and light shone in the windows of nearby houses, but nobody moved about.
    ‘Let’s see what he does.’
    With a nod, Dani slowed the car, stopped it. She shifted to neutral and set the emergency brake.
    In the rearview mirror, she watched the hearse creep closer. A few yards behind them, it stopped. The driver was alone. His face was a dim blur, craters of darkness where his eyes should be. His head was hairless.
    ‘It’s him,’ Dani whispered. ‘The guy from the restaurant.’
    Jack looked through the back window. ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘I think so.’
    The high beams of the hearse went on, shooting light into the car. It glared off the mirror. Squinting against the painful brightness, Dani shoved the mirror. It tipped upward, shining at the ceiling.
    Jack faced the front. ‘Obnoxious s.o.b.’
    ‘What does he want?’
    ‘Obviously, he wants to scare you.’
    ‘At least,’ Dani muttered.
    ‘You know, it might be a practical joke. Maybe someone hired this guy to throw a little fun into your life.’
    ‘It’s a prank ?’
    ‘I wouldn’t rule it out. After all, look at the irony of it: the queen of horror effects pursued through the night by a creep in a hearse.’
    Dani nodded. ‘It could be someone’s idea of a joke.’
    ‘Someone with a rather cruel and tasteless sense of humor.’
    ‘Michael?’
    ‘What about your old friend, Al?’
    ‘My God, do you know what film he’s on now? The Undertaker .’
    Jack whistled. ‘I believe the mystery is solved.’
    ‘Not quite. How did he know we’d be at Joe Allen tonight?’
    ‘Could’ve followed us from the studio. He’d recognise your car, wouldn’t he?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘The weirdo didn’t show up till we were done eating. Al probably phoned, let him know where to find us, and the guy hustled on over.’
    ‘Al’s certainly capable of it,’ Dani said. ‘I wouldn’t put it past him, but . . . I don’t know.’
    ‘It’s the only solution that makes sense.’
    ‘Don’t!’ she cried as Jack pushed open the door.
    ‘I’ll be right back.’
    ‘Jack, for Godsake!’
    He flung the door shut and marched toward the hearse. Dani sprang from the car. She took a step toward the hearse, but fear hit her like an icy gale, forcing her backwards against the open door.
    ‘Jack, come on!’
    He tugged at the handle of the passenger door. The hearse rocked slightly.
    Then the driver’s door flew open. The man leaped out and ran at Dani, arms out, mouth agape.
    His pointed teeth, she knew at once, were plastic vampire fangs.
    A gag. It’s all a sick gag.
    Jack was charging past the front of the hearse, trying to head him off. But Dani saw that he wouldn’t make it.
    The lunging, cadaverous man was already too close, his demented murmur loud in Dani’s ears.
    She jumped into the car and slammed the door. As she pounded the lock button down, he grabbed the outside handle. He jerked it, shaking the car.
    Then he pressed his young face to the window. He grinned like a madman, his nose and chin mashed against the pane, his eyes rolling. His tongue darted out between his